The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) has announced an increase in income threshold requirements for residence permit applicants, effective November 1. Under the new rules, single adults will need to demonstrate an annual income of €14,520, up from the current €12,000.
These changes will also affect household income thresholds, which will rise proportionally with the number of people in the household. For students, the required monthly income will increase from €560 to €800. These adjustments will apply to new applicants, while existing permit holders will remain unaffected for the time being. The new rules will also extend to residence permit applicants conducting personally financed research in Finland.
In certain regions with lower housing costs, deviations from the income threshold of up to 15% may be allowed, Migri noted.
Further changes include an increase in the income requirement for au pairs from €280 to €340 per month, and for working holiday applicants, who will need to demonstrate €2,450 for the first three months of their stay, up from the current €2,000.
The new measures aim to ensure that applicants have sufficient financial resources to support themselves while living in Finland. The thresholds are based on the Social Insurance Institution of Finland’s (Kela) essential social assistance payments in the Helsinki metropolitan area and take into account adjustments for housing and healthcare costs.
From 2015 to 2023, Finnish authorities issued approximately one million residence permits, with 978,506 granted to non-EU immigrants. Additionally, stricter rules for acquiring citizenship are set to take effect on October 1, 2024.